


I'll be your blade, and you'll be mine.

by quietlullaby (nangongque)



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alive Renfri | Shrike (The Witcher), Bisexual Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, F/F, Protective Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Renfri | Shrike Deserves Better (The Witcher), YENFRI
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nangongque/pseuds/quietlullaby
Summary: A magical mishap sees Yennefer and Renfri meet long before the events of Blaviken. Renfri gets the story she deserves, and maybe a little something more.
Relationships: Renfri | Shrike & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Renfri | Shrike/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	I'll be your blade, and you'll be mine.

**Author's Note:**

> Written with my limited knowledge of The Witcher. Not canon compliant. If there are any gaping grammatical or lore errors, please feel free to let me know!

Renfri stifled a curse as a branch scored a long red stripe across her forearm. She was widening the distance between her and her pursuer, she was sure of it. Her acute senses could no longer pick up the footfalls of the hunter sent after her, but she knew he wouldn't be shaken off so easily. Not with the royal bounty over her head, and not with the cruel disdain of her stepmother's curled lip. No, the emblem she'd spied upon him marked his prowess and his undying loyalty to the queen.

She was faster than the huntsman, she knew. But a seasoned assassin like him would know better than to chase their fleet-footed prey across uncharted woods without a plan. A crossbow bolt to the back was a possibility, but unlikely in the dark of night. Perhaps he had a posse of men laying wait at her destination; she was running to the river, where she could lose him amidst the rushing waters and mud.

Renfri was running out of time to think. As she cleared a fallen tree with an easy leap, she spied the open riverbank snidely. Perhaps this man was a trained killer, a seasoned hunter. But he had no magic, and no help. He was just a man, after all.

As she approached the river, she weighed her options and speedily darted up a tree. It was a thin and wiry thing, barely able to keep from bending under her weight, but it would allow her to jump from it and land some distance away. When her feet left the ground she swept her cloak over it to scatter the leaves over her footfalls; in the dark of night, it would be more than enough cover.

Silence reigned but for the crashing waters. Even as the huntsman entered her vision she couldn't make out the sound of his steps over the river. Renfri watched as he crouched, inspecting the ground, and glanced around quickly. Seeing no obvious tracks he stepped forward to the river bank, searching its waters for signs, and Renfri leaped from her perch. She whipped her cloak from around her and brought it over the hunter's head, cinching the fabric with her hands as she grabbed him by the shoulders and heaved him forward, into the water. A wet smack resounded as his body collided with jagged rocks in the riverbed, and he clutched blindly at her arms as she _pushed_ with all of her strength, keeping his head submerged beneath the waves, with her cloak as his noose.

Too soon, he gave up resistance. Renfri knew this. Yet she was still unable to meet the strength of the hands that suddenly found grip and dragged her into the river beside him. The cold of the water shocked her to the core, her lungs seizing as she gasped for breath, fighting with the grappling hands that had thrown her cloak aside. An arm looped around her throat and plunged her under the surface.

The cold stung her eyes and ears, and her head was beginning pounding from asphyxiation. She surfaced momentarily, but before she could take a breath a rough hand plunged her back under. Water rushed into her gaping mouth as she flailed, landing a punch on the man behind her but failing to loosen his grip.

Renfri knew she was fighting a losing battle when a brilliant light flashed behind her closed eyelids, her vision awash in white. Her struggle slowed as her lungs thirsted for oxygen.

Vaguely, in the haze of her fading mind, Renfri felt the sensation of the man's tight grip slipping away. She felt herself sinking, her feet alighting on a jagged surface. She reached a hand up blindly towards the surface, and was barely conscious enough to register the firm grip of a hand that met her grasping fingers.

* * *

White splotches were the first thing to return to her vision as Renfri hacked up stream after stream, unable to pause for breath until the water was fully expelled. As she greedily inhaled lungfuls of air her vision swam back into focus and she felt a hand rubbing her back soothingly as she kneeled for breath.

"Care to explain why you were drowning this woman?"

Renfri's head shot up to look at the imposing figure beside her, and she took in the richly clothed noblewoman. _Not a threat. Not yet, at least._ She followed the woman's gaze to see her assaulter struggling with a dagger pinning his leather jerkin against the trunk of a tree.

He didn't answer, much as Renfri had expected. The raven-haired woman turned her head sharply and met Renfri's eyes only long enough for her to catch a glimpse of purple, and Renfri felt a shiver run down her spine. There was an energy to this woman, a poise, and somehow Renfri could feel the chaos gathering around her. _Sorceress_ , her senses hissed. The newcomer's head snapped back to the pinned hunter and she stepped forward threateningly, two more daggers ready in her waiting hands.

"If you won't speak, I'll gut you like a coward drowning a woman in the dark of night deserves."

The assassin snarled, yanking the dagger free of the trunk and wielding it as he leapt to his feet.

"I don't answer to you. She is a murderer, to be brought back dead or alive by order of the Queen." Saying this, he drew back his arm and threw the dagger with deadly precision at Renfri's prone form.

"Melitele knows I know a thing or two about dealing with royalty."

The princess had braced herself for the impact, ready to twist out of the way. She was weak, but not enough to stop her from rotating her body so that it would strike her in the shoulder instead. The blade never hit her, and as she blinked in confusion, she barely saw it in the dark of night, floating in the air just beyond the mysterious woman's outstretched hand before dropping harmlessly to the soil.

"I don't know what's happening, but I get the feeling you'd best leave my sight before I figure it out," she threatened with a sneer. "You're sorely outmatched, I'm afraid."

"I'll be back," the huntsman replied lowly after a moment's consideration, backing away. He inched away from them, treading carefully as he stared them down. As soon as he was a reasonable distance he turned and sprinted out of sight.

* * *

With a flourish, the mysterious woman sheathed her blades. "What's your name?"

"Why'd you let him go?" Renfri demanded, rising to her feet unsteadily.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm on your side. I'm only passing through. You're lucky I was feeling generous." Purple eyes flashed in warning.

"Considering you seem to have helped me, you've taken a side. You heard him. He works for the Queen. She'll want your head too now that you've assisted me."

"Will she, now? Then tell me, who are you?"

Renfri paused a moment, then held out a hand wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. "They call me Shrike."

A pause. Then, the woman extended her hand in turn. "Well,  _ Shrike,  _ I am Yennefer. Yennefer of Vengerberg."

"Thank you, Yennefer, for saving my life," Renfri retrieved the fallen blade from the ground, "but it's likely best that you leave here for good now that you've been seen with me. If you'd killed him, perhaps we both might've escaped longer."

"The likes of him hardly threaten me," Yennefer commented dryly. "Do tell me though, where am I?"

"Would you believe me if I told you there's a whole entourage of them? How is it that you managed to end up in the outskirts of Creyden without knowing where you are anyway?"

The sorceress shrugged. "Spell went wrong. It appears I've missed my mark by several leagues."

"Portaled somewhere a bit out of reach, did you?" Renfri asked bitterly. "I wish I could."

"It's a bit more complex than that." Yennefer seemed unwilling to extrapolate on the matter, picking up her skirts and surveying the area around her. "Won't do for us to travel in this darkness. I'll make camp near here, if you'd like to join me."

"Can't you just-" Renfri gestured vaguely with her hands, wiggling her fingers, "-and go back to wherever you came from?"

"Like I said, it's complicated. And portalling takes a lot of energy, which I'd rather conserve right now."

"You'd trust me after meeting me so quickly?"

Purple eyes sparkled with mirth, meeting hers.  _ I suppose that confirms my suspicion that she can see in darkness, too.  _ "There's something about you. No, I don't trust you, or I'd simply ask for directions out of here, since you seem to know your way. But I do believe you don't pose a threat to me, and as you've said, I appear to have chosen a side."

Renfri knew, at heart, that it would be unwise to sleep with her back to a stranger, and such a powerful one at that. She felt strangely drawn to Yennefer, and more than a little intrigued. With the night's exhaustion catching up to her and the adrenaline draining from her body, she found herself acquiescing with a nod.

"Fear not; I'll leave protective wards up. You'll not be harmed while we rest."


End file.
